The World

ADDIS ABABA — A multi-front offensive by the Tigray People's Liberation Front and allied rebels in September has been pushed back. By Crisis Group's mid-October assessment, Ethiopian federal forces held all the major cities in Tigray, including Mekelle, which they entered on Oct. 4. They were advancing toward towns near the Eritrean border, and the TPLF had fallen back into rural areas. Ethiopia expelled Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara on Oct. 1. Eritrea responded by cutting all diplomatic ties. Ethiopia's army chief has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing the rebels, and Ethiopia and Egypt have each expelled the other's diplomats. Eritrean troops reportedly crossed into Tigray to help the rebels, then pulled back as federal forces advanced. The EU issued a statement for all 27 members on Oct. 5. Crisis Group urges Brussels to press Addis Ababa to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access.

A UN-commissioned Commission of Inquiry reported Monday that Israel is still committing genocidal acts in Gaza despite the October 2025 ceasefire. It also accused Israel of crimes against humanity in the West Bank. The panel said Israeli forces have enlarged their control from 53 to at least 60 percent of Gaza. It said fire along the advancing front has killed at least 196 Palestinians, 43 of them children. It documented 254 West Bank deaths from Israeli air strikes between October 2023 and September 2026. Israel has long denied the genocide and sexual-violence allegations and rejected the findings. Separately, the Israeli military said it destroyed two Hamas weapons depots overnight and killed several commanders this week, describing the strikes as responses to violations of the truce. More than 100 aid and rights groups said on Oct. 9 that the ceasefire 'exists in name only'. They put the post-truce toll at over 1,400 Palestinians.

ISLAMABAD — Taliban and Pakistani forces have clashed at least three times since Oct. 19. The latest round, on Oct. 27, was along the Paktika–South Waziristan frontier. Pakistani officials said Taliban mortar fire killed one civilian and wounded five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Taliban defense ministry said Pakistani drones struck facilities in Paktika and that its forces hit Pakistani positions in return. Pakistan called the Taliban account a fabrication. FDD's Long War Journal reports that the present phase began after a Sept. 18 suicide attack that killed 31 people in northwestern Pakistan. Pakistan says Kabul shelters the Pakistani Taliban, which Kabul denies. The New York Times reported on Oct. 24 that Pakistani military and intelligence officials have met Afghan anti-Taliban resistance groups, citing a Pakistani intelligence official and a resistance member. Pakistan denied it. Border crossings have been mostly shut for over a year. Russia and the EU have urged talks.

TAIPEI — Taiwan's defense minister, Wellington Koo, said Tuesday that the military will not relax its guard after Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired a 42-second clip of Taiwan taken by the Jilin-1 satellite constellation. The clip, labeled 'This is China's Taiwan Province,' showed Taipei landmarks, the port and Sun Moon Lake. It is the second year running that Beijing has used such imagery around its 'Taiwan Restoration Day,' Oct. 25. Taiwanese analysts said it signals persistent surveillance capability. Koo said the armed forces will use concealment and dispersal measures. The Council on Foreign Relations tracker lists a Chinese coast guard vessel entering the restricted zone at the Pratas Islands on Oct. 20, a swarm of 16 Chinese vessels driven off on Oct. 18, and Chinese sanctions on Paraguayan and Belizean ministers on Oct. 11. Reuters reported that U.S. officials now judge an invasion unlikely before 2028. Taiwan holds local elections next month.

WASHINGTON — A two-count Espionage Act case against former FBI Director James Comey was unsealed Oct. 26. It accuses him of passing national defense information to a reporter in October 2016 and of conspiring with others to do so. Prosecutors filed it under seal on Oct. 5, the tenth anniversary of the alleged disclosure. They used a prosecutor's information rather than a grand-jury indictment. A Justice Department official says the filing only tolls the statute of limitations while an indictment is pursued, and that formal charges have not yet been filed. Comey's lawyers say the conduct was investigated twice before, including by special counsel John Durham, without charges. They argue the deadline passed, and they have moved to dismiss. Judge Trevor McFadden will decide whether the tolling approach holds. Comey also faces a separate North Carolina charge over an '8647' social media post. A 2025 case was dismissed.

WASHINGTON — Liren 'Ryan' Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were each sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, the Justice Department said Friday. Both pleaded guilty to acting as agents of a foreign government, and to conspiring to do so, without notifying the Attorney General. They were arrested in June 2025. Al Jazeera reports they admitted facilitating dead-drop cash payments worth at least $30,000 to people in the U.S. as part of an effort to recruit service members to spy for Beijing. They also photographed a naval facility, recruits and active-duty sailors. Chen gathered personal information on a Navy employee and kept biographical files on potential intelligence targets. The Justice Department did not say how many payments were made or how many recruits they signed up.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Friday that its Military Intelligence Program budget for fiscal 2026 was $30.9 billion. That is about $3 billion above fiscal 2025 and $2.7 billion below the $33.6 billion requested. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence separately disclosed a National Intelligence Program budget of $78.1 billion, nearly $5 billion higher than last year and short of the $81.9 billion sought. The Defense Department said the military figure is aligned with the National Defense Strategy but kept further details classified. Breaking Defense notes that the two programs do not capture all U.S. intelligence spending. Some department-funded entities and platforms such as certain drones fall outside them. The 18-member intelligence community includes nine Defense Department components and nine others, including the CIA, FBI and Treasury's intelligence office.